Angry Birds looks to make angry bucks, flocks to overseas retail stores

We know what you're thinking: "But wait, isn't Angry Birds absolutely free to play on Google+ and in the Chrome Web Store?" Why yes, it is. MCV reports that Rovio's flagship mobile-turned-everywhere game will hit retailers in the UK, Ireland, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand for £10.20. That amounts to about $16.25 USD. A majority of which we gather is for the disc.

If you want to nitpick, that's three copies of each of the Angry Birds games released for iOS and enough for yet another. As irony would have it, the publishing deal Finland-based Rovio signed with Focus Multimedia covers PC versions of all three Angry Birds games. The first game to be released under the deal is none other than the original game on Nov. 25. The game has already reached 500 million downloads across all the platforms it exists on, so why now go the brick and mortar route?

"Boxed retail is another way to reach more audience," Rovio spokesperson Ville Heijari told MCV. "Digital and mobile are still at the core of our business, but boxed retail is a good addition for taking the brand forward." The guy has a point: If Rovio is serious about hitting the 1 billion fan mark, the company must consider those unfortunately without Internet access. However, we doubt charging them ten times as much for the game will have them running to the nearest GameStop.